Occupation lists: The occupation lists that underpin the 457 visa will be significantly condensed from 651 to 435 occupations, with 216 occupations removed and access to 59 other occupations restricted.

Of the 435 occupations, access to 24 occupations has been restricted to regional Australia (e.g. occupations relating to farming and agriculture).

The Consolidated Sponsored Occupation List (CSOL) will also be renamed as the new Short-term Skilled Occupations List (STSOL) and will be updated every six months based on advice from the Department of Employment.

The other occupations list used for skilled migration, the Skilled Occupations List (SOL) will be renamed the new Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL). This list will contain occupations that have been assessed as being of high value to the Australian economy and aligning to the Government’s longer term training and workforce strategies.

A separate fact sheet about the occupation lists’ changes will be issued.

Validity period: The maximum duration of 457 visas issued from this date for occupations that are on the STSOL will be two years. Occupations on the MLTSSL will continue to be issued for a maximum duration of four years.

The numbers of jobs eligible for the two-year and four-year visa streams will be slashed, with 216 occupations ranging from antique dealer to fisheries officer to shoe maker cut from a list of 651 professions on the 457 list.

“We are putting jobs first, we are putting Australians first,” Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said. "We are an immigration nation, but the fact remains that Australian workers must have priority for Australian jobs.

“Australian workers must have priority for Australian jobs, so we are abolishing the 457 visa, the visa that brings temporary foreign workers into our country. We will no longer allow 457 visas to be passports to jobs that could and should go to Australians.”

Labor leader Bill Shorten – who has vowed to “crack down on dodgy” 457 visas – immediately suggested “the only job Malcolm Turnbull cares about saving is his own”.
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Both sides of politics have raised concerns about the use of 457 visas in recent years and adopted more nationalist postures about the need to protect Australian jobs.

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson claimed credit for the changes, arguing “the government will deny their tough talk on immigration and plan to ban 457 visas is because of One Nation, but we all know the truth”.

Accounting giant KPMG criticised the decision, saying “there is no evidence the current system is not working”.

Mr Turnbull dismissed that claim, arguing the abolition of the 457 visa was “a decision of my government … this has been a careful exercise in policy development”.

People currently on a 457 visa, which lasts for four years, will be exempt from the new regulations.

Application fees will rise from a flat $1060 to $1150 for the two-year visa and $2400 for the four-year visa.

Less than 1 per cent of Australia’s 12 million-strong workforce, or 95,758 people, held a primary 457 visa as of September 30, 2016.

Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said that for the two-year stream, which could be renewed for two years, “there won’t be permanent residency outcomes at the end of that. In relation to the medium-term stream which, as the Prime Minister pointed out, is targeted at higher skills, [there will be] a much shorter skills list.”

He said the government would work with companies to ensure they met labour market testing requirements, and warned “there will be a particular focus on companies that have an unnecessarily high proportion of 457 or foreign workers in jobs as well. There will be a number of ways in which we can clamp down.”

The 457 program was introduced by the former Howard government in 1996-97. Mr Turnbull said that it had failed under Labor and would therefore be abolished.

KPMG’s national leader of immigration practice, Michael Wall, said: “It is a demand-driven program, and the number of 457 visas has been on a decline over the last few years.”

“This move does not align with Australia’s stated commitment to increasing innovation, and causes uncertainty for foreign companies considering investing or doing business here.”

Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox welcomed the decision to axe the “high-value” program, because of “exaggerations of its misuse”.

“Ending that visa category, adding limits and more clearly defining its successor visas will help draw the focus back to the program’s primary purpose: addressing the pockets of skill shortages that persist in our economy,” he said.

Occupation lists: The STSOL will be further reviewed based on advice from the Department of Employment. The MLTSSL will be revised based on outcomes from the Department of Education and Training’s 2017-18 SOL review.

English language requirements: English language salary exemption threshold, which exempts applicants whose salary is over $96,400 from the English language requirement, will be removed.

Training benchmarks: Policy settings about the training benchmark requirement will be made clearerin legislative instruments.

Character: Provision of penal clearance certificates will become mandatory.

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection (the Department) will commence the collection of Tax File Numbers for 457 visa holders (and other employer sponsored migrants), and data will be matched with the Australian Tax Office’s records to ensure that visa holders are not paid less than their nominated salary.

The Department will commence the publication of details relating to sponsors sanctioned for failing to meet their obligations under the Migration Regulation 1994 and related legislation.

From March 2018, the 457 visa will be abolished and replaced with the TSS visa. The TSS visa will be comprised of a Short-Term stream of up to two years, and a Medium-Term stream of up to four years.

The Short-Term stream is designed for Australian businesses to fill skill gaps with foreign workers on a temporary basis, where a suitably skilled Australian worker cannot be sourced.

The Medium-Term stream will allow employers to source foreign workers to address shortages in a narrower range of high skill and critical need occupations, where a suitably skilled Australian worker cannot be sourced.

The Short-Term stream will include the following criteria:

Renewal: Capacity for visa renewal onshore once only.

Occupations:

For non-regional Australia, the STSOL will apply.

For regional Australia, the STSOL will apply, with additional occupations available to support regional employers.

English language requirements: A requirement of an International English Language Testing System (IELTS) (or equivalent test) score of 5, with a minimum of 4.5 in each test component.

Genuine entry: A genuine temporary entrant requirement.

The Medium-Term stream will include the following criteria:

Renewal: Capacity for visa renewal onshore and a permanent residence pathway after three years.

Occupation lists:

For non-regional Australia - the MLTSSL will apply.

For regional Australia - the MLTSSL will apply, with additional occupations available to - support regional employers.

English language requirements: a requirement of a minimum of IELTS 5 (or equivalent test) in each test component.

Eligibility criteria for both streams will include:

Work experience: at least two years’ relevant work experience.

Labour market testing (LMT): LMT will be mandatory, unless an international obligation applies.

The detailed policy settings for several of these requirements will be finalised through the implementation process. Further details on these requirements to inform stakeholders will be available in due course.

457 visa applicants that had lodged their application on or before 18 April 2017, and whose application had not yet been decided, with an occupation that has been removed from the STSOL, may be eligible for a refund of their visa application fee.

Nominating businesses for these applications may also be eligible for a refund of related fees.

The Turnbull Government will safeguard Australian jobs by abolishing the Subclass 457 Visa for foreign workers and creating a new temporary visa restricted to critical skills shortages.

This will ensure Australian workers are given the absolute first priority for jobs, while businesses will be able to temporarily access the critical skills they need to grow if skilled Australians workers are not available.

The Subclass 457 Visa will be abolished and replaced with the Temporary Skill Shortage Visa. The new visa will include mandatory criminal checks and tighter English language requirements.

The new Temporary Skill Shortage Visa programme will comprise two streams – Short Term and Medium Term – and will be underpinned by more focused occupation lists that are responsive to genuine skill needs and regional variations across Australia.

Short term visas will be issued for two years, while medium term visas will be issued only for more critical skills shortages and for up to four years.

Both streams will include mandatory labour market testing with limited exemptions; a new non-discriminatory workforce test; mandatory criminal history checks; a market salary rate assessment and a new two-year work experience requirement.

Additionally there will be tightened English language requirements for the Medium Term Stream.

The new visa will also include a strengthened training obligation for employers sponsoring foreign skilled workers to provide enhanced training outcomes for Australians in high-need industries and occupations.

These changes will give Australian job seekers more opportunity to find work while finding the right balance so businesses can prosper by acquiring the expertise they need.

Migration is an integral part of the Australian story and its success has helped us become the world’s most successful multicultural nation.

There is no doubt foreign workers have played a significant role in the remarkable economic growth of the nation.

More than 100,000 workers from 30 countries helped build the Snowy Hydro Scheme while John Howard’s decision to focus our permanent migration programme on bringing in skills has helped the nation enjoy more than two decades of continued economic growth.

This will continue but not at the expense of Australians finding work. Unlike Labor, the Turnbull government will always put Australian workers first.

Bill Shorten sold out Australian workers by allowing a record number of foreign workers into the country, many not filling critical skill shortages.

More than 110,000 foreign workers entered the country in 2013 under the then Labor government. Some were allowed to work in the fast food sector at the expense of young Australians who were looking for work.

That will not happen under this government. We are making it easier for Australians to find work and we have restored order to our borders so we can ensure foreign workers have an opportunity to arrive through the appropriate channels.

Implementation of the new visa will begin immediately, with full implementation to be completed by March 2018.

the Consolidated Sponsored Occupation List (CSOL) has been replaced with the new Short-term Skilled Occupation List (STSOL);

the Skilled Occupation List (SOL) has been replaced with the new Medium and Long-term Strategic Skills List (MLTSSL);

there has been a reduction of 216 occupations available for subclass 457 visa programme applications;

59 caveats now apply to specified occupations - these either relate to work experience, regional location or are occupation specific; and

new visa validity periods also apply under the standard subclass 457 programme with a maximum 2 year period available for occupations that are eligible for the subclass 457 programme but not on the new MLTSSL.